Forsaken
by TheGoodMadame
Summary: Ayame has finally come to her senses with the realization that Orochimaru was not her father as he has been saying all her life, in fact she didn't even belong to Otogakure. Now that she has found her true father, Hidan of the Akatsuki, will it stay that way?
1. Chapter 1

"Come here my sweet daughter." I jumped away from Orochimaru and looked back at him.

"I am not your daughter! I know Orochimaru, tell me who you stole me from or I swear to god I will blow up this lab." I had bombs in my hands ready to blow at any second and Orochimaru knew there was no getting out of this. Not this time.

"Fine, you're actually the daughter of Akatsuki member Hidan. Now put those bombs away before your destroy this place." I left the lab and threw a bomb into it anyways. Orochimaru did evil things in that lab and regardless of what I told him I wanted it to be destroyed. I could hear Orochimaru yelling at everyone to seek and kill me, and at that point I knew it was in my best interest to run away from there. I rigged up a couple explosions on some of the main buildings of Otogakure before running from the village. I didn't care too much for explosions since they weren't very personal but they were the easiest thing for me to throw together and cause a lot of damage with. I knew where the Akatsuki base was located, but getting Hidan to believe I am the daughter which was kidnapped so long ago would be a challenge. I just turned 19 which meant I have been gone over 16 years.

As I was running towards the base long black tendrils of what looked to be wire wrapped around me. I was dragged into the trees where I came face-to-face with the duo I've been looking for.

"Orochimaru has a high bounty on her head." The one who grabbed me had a hood that covered his face but I knew him. His name was Kakuzu, bounty hunter for the Akatsuki. I looked at Hidan as he stared me down. His eyes widen but he doesn't say anything to me, instead he turns to Kakuzu.

"I don't want to turn her in just yet, I may want her as a sacrifice. Orochimaru has done nothing but plague us so why should we bother helping that asshole?" Kakuzu nodded in agreement and hit me over the head with his elbow. My vision became cloudy as I was thrown over someone's shoulder. My head slumped down and my hair exposed the small Jashin symbol that was tattooed on my neck. The last thing I remember feeling was his hand touching my neck before I passed out.

I awoke in a room unfamiliar to me, its walls were covered in a strange sign: a circle with a triangle in the middle. I thought back to when I saw Hidan and remembered seeing the symbol on a necklace he wore. The room was painted black under the symbols and had barely any furniture. There were candles in the backside of the room and the symbol painted on the floor. I assumed that was his ritual site but I didn't know much else. Orochimaru never had much information on Hidan, I'm assuming because of me. I stood up from the bed I was sitting on and looked around the room some more. It wasn't very big and the only thing beside the bed was a desk in the back. I carefully walked around the ritual site and over to the desk. I found pictures of baby me on Hidan's back but he didn't look the way he does now, he looked happier in the photos. I guess having your child taken from you can damage everything.

"So it really is you." I jumped when I heard Hidan's voice come from behind me. I looked over at him and nodded. He advanced towards me as I stood there staring up at him. I thought he was going to hurt me until he pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes as he held onto me. Hidan towered over me at my measly height of 5'1 as I hugged him. Hidan picked me up and carried me over the bed before sitting down and holding me close to his body.

"You've grown so much, where were you?" I looked up at him and sighed as I snuggled closer to him. I figured he would've figured it out if Orochimaru had put a bounty on my head but obviously he didn't quite get it.

"Orochimaru had me. I never even knew I wasn't his until a few days ago when I found information on my kidnapping." Hidan hugged me tightly.

"I'll kill Orochimaru, but my dear no one must know you're my daughter, do you understand?" I nodded and hid my tears in his cloak. I was with my true father now, but with Orochimaru coming after me I don't know how long it'll be for. Hopefully forever.


	2. Chapter 2

"Everyone, this is Ayame. She'll be joining us as a member of the Akatsuki, she'll be paired with Kakuzu and Hidan. That is all." I hid behind my father as the other members looked me over. The fish known as Kisame tried to reach towards me but I grabbed his hand and flipped him. I hid back behind my dad as the others stared in wonder.

"Oh, she doesn't like to be touched." My dad chuckled and looked at the down Kisame.

"Tell us Hidan, why does she look so much like you? And how do you know so much about a girl that we've only just met?" Itachi. I knew that voice well and I knew he was intelligent enough to figure out what we were hiding. My father looked stuck as to what to answer, he glanced down at me and I just nodded in response to his unspoken question.

"Ayame, is my daughter. No one can know she's my daughter for her own safety. She's being hunted for destroying half of Otogakure and if Orochimaru finds out she's here he might start a war and this isn't the Akatsuki's war. It's mine." Everyone eyed me from the couches of the common room. I walked out from behind my father and held onto his hand.

"She's so small. How old are you Ayame?" I looked over at Tobi in annoyance.

"I'm nineteen." Tobi reached to touch my hair and within a second I had one of my kunais up against his throat.  
I got close to his ear and whispered, "Watch it Obito." He pretended to cry and I released him.

"Ayame, what has you so afraid of being touched by anyone but your father?" I looked at the hunched over man in the corner. Based on the information from Orochimaru he's a puppet inside a puppet.

"Orochimaru did things to me that I don't care to discuss. Only someone who knows him could understand what I felt." My father lifted me up and I hung onto him by his neck.

"He's the reason I'm so short. Something he did made me stop growing, my body is basically immortal but if I am killed by someone I will die. I just cannot die by natural causes, sickness, or poison." My voice trailed off closer to the end. I hid my face in the neck of my father's cloak and didn't speak again. I stared into the darkness of the cloth as my thoughts went back to my days as a lab experiment.

_"Dad please, no! I don't want to be hurt!" _

_"It's okay my little princess. It'll hurt only for a bit." He injected my arm with something that made my whole body ache. I screamed in agony as the pain began searing from my feet to my head. When the pain finally stopped my father proceeded to inject what looked to be poison into my body. I thought at that moment he was going to kill me. I thought my own father was going to toss me aside because whatever experiment he did on me failed._

_"Ah perfect." I realized that I wasn't a failed experiment judging by his expression. In fact I was a successful one, and that made me happy. I was a little scared what he did to me but I couldn't be happier that I was a successful experiment which made my daddy happy. _

I jumped from my father's arms and looked back up at him.

"I'm going outside. I know it's late and I know he's looking for me but I need to get some air. I'll scream if anything happens." I didn't wait for an answer. Instead I just walked out fueled by my own thoughts. I sat on a huge rock that was nearby and brought my legs to my chest. I heard a rustling in the bushes that hid the entrance to the base and looked towards it. I noticed a scorpion like tail just barely sticking from the leaves.

"Come out, Sasori."

"So you knew I was here?" I nodded and patted beside me. He removed his puppet and sat down beside me in all his puppet glory.

"What's wrong Ayame? Your father was worried when you suddenly ran off like that."

"I couldn't recognize that I wasn't Orochimaru's daughter. I knew we were different yet it took me years to finally realize the truth. He never addressed me as more than just an experimental weapon and I still couldn't see the truth." Sasori looked awkward as I started crying. He wrapped his arm around me and I leaned over on him.

"Don't be so sad Ayame, Orochimaru can be convincing especially to people who don't really know him. Don't beat yourself up over it okay?" I smiled at him softly and nodded. I knew deep down Sasori was right. I was young and didn't know what Orochimaru was capable of so I can't be to blame.

"Thank you, Sasori."


	3. Chapter 3

I looked up at the moon and caught a kunai as it flew towards my throat. Sasori jumped down from the rock and walked in the direction that the kunai had flown from. As he disappeared into the trees I could hear what sounded like someone fleeing from what I assumed to be Sasori's attacks. When I heard whoever was running fall to the ground I knew that Sasori had caught him.

"Bring him alive, Sasori." I could hear the sounds of a body being dragged from the forest and Sasori immerged from the woods with a puny Otogakure ninja. I jumped from the rock and landed on the ninja's chest as he stared up at me with terror. I looked him up and down with the realization that he had just become a ninja for Orochimaru because I didn't recognize him from before I fled the village. I lifted the ninja from the ground and motioned for Sasori to join me inside. When I walked inside the base all of the remaining Akatsuki was watching TV in the living room of their base. Their heads turned to me when I cleared my throat.

"A ninja from Otogakure has started what will soon turn into a war by attacking Sasori and I tonight." I said as I looked down at the cowering ninja. The Akatsuki all turned their attentions to me when I spoke with a voice that resembled my true age. I knew I no longer needed to act as a child but as what I had become: an Akatsuki member.

"Please! I was just following orders! Please don't kill me, I didn't mean to cause any trouble!" His frantic pleas increased as I removed a kunai from my pocket and he realized I was going to kill him.

"Please have mercy!" I growled and kicked him into the wall behind me.

"I do not have time for mercy." I slashed the kunai across his throat and blood sprayed my clothes. I ignored the stares of the other members as I tossed aside his body.

"Zetsu, I have someone for your dinner." Zetsu came up from the floor and silently pulled the body down with him. I looked at the other members, more specifically my father and smiled.

"Ayame, are you feeling alright?" My father asked as though he were a bit concerned. I nodded and chuckled to myself.

"It's just time for me to act my age." I tossed aside my kunai and walked to my father's room that I shared temporarily until I had my own. I could hear them chattering about what just happened amongst themselves.

"What's happened to her Sasori? She was only outside for like fifteen minutes and suddenly my child is murdering people?" My father seemed concerned about my current mental state. I couldn't blame him, I was concerned about it too.

"She feels almost guilty for believing in Orochimaru's lies. She feels like she should've known and found you sooner." I heard my father sigh and I assumed about this time he would be rubbing his temples in frustration at himself.

"No, she did what needed to be done to stay alive. I should've kept looking for her and I shouldn't have given up and listened to what her mother said." My mother? Does that mean she made him give up on me? My head was pounding as I thought over the possibility that the woman who gave birth me convinced my father to give up on me. Did that also mean she helped Orochimaru? Did she willingly give me to that man? There were so many question's circling my head and although I needed to know the answers, I didn't want to know the truth that may come out of the answers I may find.

"Ayame?" I looked over Sasori as I heard his voice. He smiled softly and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sasori, does that mean my mother handed me over to Orochimaru? Did she not care about me?" Sasori sighed and held onto my hand.

"I don't know. I don't know anything of your past but I'm sure she loved you." I shook my head.

"She didn't love me. She wouldn't have convinced my dad to stop looking if she did. I need to see more of that file Orochimaru has on the day I was taken. Maybe it holds the answers to my questions."

"Are you sure you honestly want to know?" I shook my head.

"I need to though. Will you help me break into Orochimaru's office?" He looked at me to make sure I was serious before nodding. I smiled at him and held his hand. I needed this and he would be the person to help me find what most call closure.


	4. Chapter 4

I sat in my father's room at the Akatsuki base, thinking of how long Orochimaru had kept me under his grasp. The question of whether or not my mother actually wanted to give me away still floats around in my mind, but, I haven't tried to dwell on it too much. Sasori had managed to convince me that attacking was not a good idea and that I needed to wait for Pein's permission but, something just bothered me constantly. When I went to the Otogakure gates and watched the village I had noticed someone that seemed familiar, yet I didn't know them, but I felt that I did. A part of me wanted to believe that it could've been my mother because my father had told me she disappeared without any evidence of having died. Which meant she still could be alive somewhere and I just don't know it. I heard the door to the room open and I looked up to see my father carrying food in for me, Pein normally didn't allow this but I had become extremely ill and couldn't leave my bed. Meaning I had to eat in here.

"Father, can I talk to you? And I need total honesty." I looked over at my dad as he sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at me.

"What is it?" I thought for a moment, trying to carefully phrase every sentence so I could get my point out.

"You've been hiding something, I can see it when I talk about my mother, and I need to know what it is. I saw someone new at Otogakure the last time I surveyed the village, and I knew that person, but I had never met them during my stay. What exactly aren't you telling me?" My father sighed. The sigh I recognized as a sigh of defeat.

"When you were born you were dead; you had died in your mother's body during the delivery. We buried you and we mourned, but your mom she couldn't take it. I knew she was up to something so one day I followed her to your grave, I saw her dig you up and take you to Otogakure. I don't know what she did in there but I knew that within a couple days I had my little girl. Alive. I didn't think about it anymore, but a few days before you were abducted, your mom suddenly despised you. She couldn't look at you, she couldn't touch you, and she couldn't be your mom. At that point the memories of that day popped up, and I knew it had something to do with Orochimaru. I never got to find out before your mom killed herself by hanging shortly after you were taken. I wasn't lying when I said she disappeared, because after I buried her, her body suddenly disappeared. All I know is that I found snake scales in her grave, so I knew who had her but I didn't know he had you." I listened to him finish and tears welled up in my eyes. I am a reanimated corpse.

"I...I'm a walking corpse...Someone had to die so I could live…"

"I'm afraid so, and because when you were brought back the reanimation jutsu wasn't yet perfected so now every few years someone must die to keep you alive. I did some research after you came back to me, and my usual sacrifices should be enough to keep you alive." I shook my head and looked up at my father.

"I am happy to have finally met my father, and to feel loved for once, but now that I know people must die to save me...I don't want to live. I know I'm supposed to be a killer, and I know i've killed already, but if I remember right it has to be an innocent that dies. Not the criminals I've been killing, and I can't take that." My father sighed and nodded at me. I didn't want to die but I also didn't want to be a walking corpse. My father left the room and I heard him gather everyone into the main room. I got up and locked the door to the room so no one could bother me and listened in.

"My daughter has decided she wants to die. I didn't tell anyone when I originally had her, but she had passed away as a baby. My wife had given her to Orochimaru for him to revive so now every couple years an innocent has to die to save her life. And she decided, that while she was okay with guilty people dying, she wasn't okay with the idea of innocent people dying so she could live and has decided that she wants her body to be laid to rest."

"What?! No! She can't just do that!" Sasori...He sounded so upset. I knew he had a thing for me and this, this just confirmed my hunches. I heard similar reactions from the others but they sounded much more upset. I felt guilty for hurting them, but I couldn't do this anymore. I thought about it and I decided, I need to return to Orochimaru.


	5. Chapter 5

I stared into the village gates of Otogakure; I slowly entered the village expecting to be surrounded at any moment. As people started to take notice of my presence they recoiled: some in anger and some in fear. I ignored them and walked straight to Orochimaru's home where he'd surely be in his lab. I kicked open the door and ninja immediately surrounded me. I held up my hands and looked around at the ninja, Orochimaru approached me from the front and grabbed my chin in his hands. I jerked away and growled.

"I'm here to give up my life. I no longer want to live if someone must die to save me." He laughed.

"I'll gladly take that pretty little life from you my dear. You're the first ninja to ever be successfully revived using that jutsu and I would enjoy poking and prodding every inch of your body to figure out exactly how it has affected you." Orochimaru turned as Kabuto walked out with a dirty scalpel in his hands. I looked up at him and he looked surprised I had even come back to the village.

"What is it you need my lord?" Orochimaru grinned.

"I want you to take our friend here and dissect every little part of her body. I want it done while she is alive and I don't want any pain to be spared do you understand my command?" Kabuto nodded. Kabuto shot out a series of chakra strings from his fingertips and bound my arms to my side and my hands behind my back. He tightened the strings so I couldn't move even an inch and began walking me inside the building. Orochimaru laughed and looked at me evilly as I looked back at him.

Once inside the building Kabuto removed the chakra strings and looked over at me, "damn it Ayame, I gave you that information so you could leave and live a life outside of Otogakure. That meant never returning to this hellhole."

"It was you that left that information in my room?!" Kabuto sighed.

"Yes, and I'm lucky Orochimaru hasn't found out. I know he's suspicious which is why I have to follow this order to kill you." I nodded.

"I want you to, no more innocence needs to die to save me. My father told me the truth. I know he didn't want to fearing this outcome but he had to. I had the right to know." Kabuto pointed to the cold exam table and I hopped up on the table and laid back. It was frightening how calm I was even though I was about to be murdered. I closed my eyes as Kabuto cut off all my clothing except my panties and restrained me to the table.

"Ayame, you can still get away. You and I both know these restraints can't actually hold you if you want to run. Please don't make me do this to you." A few tears escaped my eyes as I looked up at Kabuto's pain expression.

"I'm so sorry Kabuto, I want my life to end to save the life of an innocent. I can't be responsible for the death of someone who doesn't deserve to be killed." Kabuto sighed and closed his eyes. His composure changed and I could tell he was trying to block his emotions. I felt Kabuto hold my hand as he used the other one to make a deep cut down from my collarbone to the tip of my panties. I whimpered and squeezed his hand as I tried to resist making any sounds so I didn't hurt Kabuto more than this already had. I felt liquid fall down onto my hand and saw Kabuto was crying as he pried open my chest and looked at my insides. The pain was tremendous and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

I looked up at Kabuto as he slowly removed my dead organs from my body and by the time he got to my lungs I could barely breathe. I broke one of the restraints on my right arm and grabbed at Kabuto's arm. I was too weak to open my eyes so I had to rely on my touch alone to find him. I could feel blood was everywhere as Kabuto took my hand. I could feel his tears dropping on my arm as he held onto me.

"I'm so sorry Ayame, I can't bring myself to finish you off. I need you to know that when you were here I cared for all your wounds while you slept, and you were the best little sister I never had. I love you so much and I can't do this." I smiled sadly through my pain and struggled to open my eyes. Kabuto looked as though he'd been crying for days as his eyes were swollen and puffy with hints of irritation.

"It's okay, Kabuto. I love you too so very much and I'm so sorry if I ever made life hard for you. It's time to let me go and I know you will blame yourself forever like you had when you had to experiment on me but it's not your fault. Find Sasori and Hidan. And remember, this was Orochimaru's fault. Not yours."

I could hear him finally break down as I closed my eyes; hoping to finally rest in peace and never hurt anyone else. I knew people would hurt after I had passed, but that comes along with the grieving process and they'll eventually overcome this. I hope.


	6. Chapter 6

I lifted up Ayame's body from the trash heap of bodies in the back of the mansion; I slowly made my way out of Otogakure in fear that Orochimaru might spot me. When far enough away from the village I laid Ayame down and removed a small jar from my pocket. I opened the jar and lifted her heart from inside it and laid it into her chest. I formed chakra strings to reconnect the heart to her body then proceeded to gently sew her chest closed. I remembered the last words she said to me about finding the puppet and her father, and quickly made a few simple hand signs to send a small burst of electricity to her heart to revive her long enough for them to save her. I lifted her into my arms began running to the Akatsuki base. I opened the door using the code I had learned from Orochimaru and quietly made my way in. The Akatsuki was gathered around mourning as I approached them.

"I have a message for Hidan and Sasori." They all turned to me at once and gasped when they saw the body in my arms. Hidan was the first one to take her from me and I looked up at him as he stared down at his daughter in pain.

"I've jump started her heart long enough for you guys to save her. I gave her that information for her to escape, and never come back to Orochimaru, but she insisted that I do what I was told by Orochimaru. I didn't want to Hidan, I saved her only to have to kill her!" I sobbed quietly, "Her last words were to find you and Sasori. I believe she knew that you could save her. And I want you to use my soul to save her. I want to give back what I had taken." I was holding the blade end of a kunai in my fist and blood was starting to drip from my hands. The Akatsuki looked at me in a mixture of shock and awe as I offered to give myself to save the one I cared deeply for.

"Are you sure about this Kabuto?" Sasori asked me as if he thought I was joking.

"Yes I am sure. You can save her using me right?" Sasori nodded.

"Then yes, I'm one-hundred percent sure I want to give back to her."

"We'll need the help of everyone to save her. Neither Hidan nor I have the amount of Chakra to save her, even with the addition of Kabuto's chakra." Obito volunteered to my surprise, as well as Kisame, and Itachi. With the six of us we should have enough combined chakra to save her life. They'll need my body to transfer my organs to her in order to truly save her though.

I followed Obitio, Itachi, and Kisame as we walked into a dark room with Sasori and Hidan. I had never been this far in the base so I looked around as we walked. You couldn't see much other than the cold stone walls. When we finally entered the room I noticed a small metal table in the center of the room where Ayame was gently placed. Hidan pulled what looked like an operating table out from the darkest part of the room.

"Kabuto, pour your chakra into Ayame. We've gotta make sure she's completely alive for this portion. If you don't mind cutting your chakra strings so we can open her back up as we heal her insides. We're going to try to erase the memories of Orochimaru, but we'll leave you as her big brother. She won't remember any of the horrible things Orochimaru forced you to do to her and she'll live a more peaceful life." I nodded. It was exactly what I wanted. I took out a pair of small scissors from my pocket and gently snipped the stitches on her torso. I opened up her chest and made a few hand signs. My chakra began pouring out of my body and into Ayame's, I became unable to stand as my chakra slowly left my body and that was when Hidan helped me onto the operating table.

"I'm gonna make this quick Kabuto, thank you for saving her." I closed my eyes as Sasori took out a long kunai and stabbed it immediately into my chest and slid it down to cut off my clothing and open up my chest. I coughed up blood and gasped in pain but I kept my eyes on Ayame. This pain that I was feeling is exactly what I put her through in her final moments, and I deserved every ounce of this pain. Sasori quickly began cutting out my organs and transplanting them into her body, he used dissolvable stitches to stitch the organs into place until the chakra from the others would heal her completely. As Sasori got to my lungs I couldn't even keep my eyes open.

"Thank you Kabuto." Those were the last words I would ever hear and I'm okay with that. I saved her and made up for every bad thing I've ever done to her. I felt the swift pain of the kunai and blacked out on the table.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up and looked around my father's room; something immediately seemed off to me as everything felt different. My body no longer felt as though it were indeed my body even though clearly it was. The door opened slowly as my dad had brought me breakfast on a serving platter and laid it on the bed beside me. My stomach growled as my nose caught wind of the delicious smells coming from the platter, but before I ate I needed to know why everything felt so wrong.

"Dad, what happened to me? Nothing feels right to me anymore and my body doesn't even feel as though it's mine. I know something happened." He seemed surprised by my sudden question. His expression quickly changed to worry as he did his best to not look directly at me; it was then I knew it wasn't going to be good.

"You died at the hands of Orochimaru." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had died. That's why I felt so different.

"How am I alive, dad?" He sighed.

"Your big brother was working with Orochimaru and when he found out you died he sacrificed himself to make sure that you had a life ahead of you. He thought this would atone for all the mistakes he's made in his life." I couldn't believe it. My big brother had been working with the man who's plagued our lives for years. And now I don't even have a big brother because he sacrificed himself for me. I looked down my shirt at scars that covered my chest and realized that those were from the reanimation process.

"Are you alright, Ayame?" I nodded silently. I felt upset but more relieved. I didn't want my brother to be dead, but I'm glad I'm not dead since I never had a chance to actually live yet. Thank you big brother.


	8. Chapter 8

I was running from a group of leaf ninja carrying an injured Ayame in my arms. We were the last of the Akatsuki amidst this war that was taking place around us. A group of ninja from Konoha attacked the Akatsuki base after we had failed in taking a jinchuriki. Ayame had been hurt in the fight and was recovering when they attacked, the others defended us long enough for me to escape with her in my arms. As we ran a realization hit me, I was no longer an Akatsuki member. I was a father. I have always been a father over a member of that group. I was known as a ruthless killer when I wanted to be known as a father that adored his child more than anything in this world. And as I thought about my life before I began worshipping Jashin and before I became the monster I am now, I was known as that.

"Stop there!" A group of ninja jumped through the trees that were on either side of me and I cursed under my breath. Ayame was in no condition to fight these people off and I wouldn't just sit her down on the ground and risk something happening to her. I had to find a way to fight without breaking my hold on my little girl.

"Ayame, I need you to wake up sweetie." Ayame opened her eyes and looked up at me through an exhausted expression. She looked around and noticed the ninja bearing their kunai at her and immediately she became more awake. Her body began to change as she grew pale and looked at the ninja with a hatred I haven't seen since she killed that ninja oh so long ago. Bone-like shards started growing from her body as she jumped from my arms and landed on the ground. She grabbed them and threw them at the ninja; hitting each in the neck. They held their necks as their blood poured from their bodies. She reminded me of one of Orochimaru's Sound Four, his name was Kimmimaro if I'm not mistaking, but he has long since passed from an illness that consumed him.

I could see the transformation take a toll on Ayame's body as she swayed while trying to stand. She seemed taken aback by what she had just done, but, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my side to support her. I didn't want her to start feeling like a monster because that was the one thing she would never be. Even if it was the last thing I did.

"What...what was that? I seemed to have just completely black out, but I knew what I was doing and it felt right. I had complete control but I didn't want to stop because I felt that if I did someone was going to be hurt." I rubbed her shoulders and kissed her head. It seemed to make her relax as she finally collapsed from exhaustion.

"Go on back to sleep Ayame; I will wake you when we are safe." She nodded and fell asleep against my body as I picked her back up. I heard rustling coming from beside me and was relieved when Sasori walked out from behind the trees. He looked down at Ayame and held out his arms. I gently placed her down into his arms and we set off for the one place I knew we would finally be safe. And it was the one place that no one could ever track us down.


	9. Chapter 9

I was elated when Ayame finally opened her eyes and looked around. The expression of pure curiosity as she saw the towering ice sculptures and building made of ice that neither melted or broke. Koorigakure was a village hidden far away in a land that has yet to be discovered by anyone, such as everyone called the area which the leaf village rested The Land of Fire, this land was called The Land of Mystery. Typically, the ninja here specialized in the element of water, but many of the ninja that are here came here from all over our world after having been found abandoned by their villages so there was not a specific type of ninja that resided here. This village was also one of peace, knowing only violence if violence should come to them, never do they purposely engage in wars or battles and this is where I want to rest.

"What is this place?" I smiled as she looked up at me with a joy that was long since gone in her eyes. The same joy was even in Sasori's eyes as he watched Ayame glide on the ice below her feet.

"This is Koorigakure; It was once your mother's village." She stopped skating and looked around at all the ice sculptures.

"Why was I never brought here?" I knew that question would surface, and I truthfully had no response that would make Ayame happy. Sasori stepped in and took Ayame's hand in his own and looked down at her with a loving look in those puppet eyes of his.

"It probably brought back bad memories before, but now we're all here, and we're going to live here in a peace we never had anywhere else. Is that okay with you Ayame?" I was thankful for Sasori stepping in and as Ayame looked in my direction I knew the answer had satisfied her for now. The kage of this village walked over to us and bowed slightly at me. I waved my hand signaling that they didn't have to do that but when they looked over at Ayame; their eyes seemed to brighten up.

"Oh Hidan, is this beautiful young woman my niece?" I nodded and she wrapped her arms around Ayame. I could see the unfamiliarity making Ayame uncomfortable at first, but soon she raised her arms around her aunt and gave her a huge. Something she wouldn't do with anyone before this.

Ayame's aunt took her away while they gossiped amongst themselves. Amira was my wife's sister who was devastated when she was told Ayame had unfortunately passed away. Before the attack I had reconnected with her and explained to her that my life of crime was coming to an end and I needed somewhere that Ayame could grow up. Of course she was confused at first since Ayame had passed away when she was young, but I managed to fill her in on everything that's happened. I made sure to tell her that Ayame has no recollection of any of it since we wiped her memory that way she wouldn't accidentally bring all those memories back and make them haunt my daughter.

Sasori touched my shoulder and looked up at me; he wanted answers because not even he knew where we were going. Sasori had informed me after Ayame's injury that he wanted to go with us and protect her. I knew he just wanted to remain close to her because of his true feelings towards her, but I couldn't deny him. If anyone were to touch my daughter I would prefer someone that I knew well such as Sasori. I motioned for him to follow me to a quaint cabin to our left.

Upon entering the cabin I took a deep breathe; this was where I used to live when my life was turned into a downward spiral of misery. Sasori put his hand my arm as a way to calm me down and I looked at him gratefully. I was glad that Sasori was here with me because while he didn't speak much at the base, he's rather comforting. We sat down on the couch I used to have many movie nights with my wife before she passed away.

"Alright HIdan, where are we? How come no one knew of this village?" Sasori asked with confusion lacing his voice.

"We are at The Village Hidden in the Ice. No one knew of this village because when Shina became pregnant with Ayame we traveled around looking for the perfect home. Shina's specialty when it came to her chakra was water and ice, so we figured we could maybe live in the Village Hidden in the Mist. Upon arriving, we saw how many homeless people and ninja there were. At this point this was something we'd seen a lot of but Kirigakure had been the worse. Shina got the idea to create our own village, so we ventured on until we came upon this abandoned place. No one had been here in centuries so Shina took the time and researched how to make the perfect ice which is what most buildings are covered in here, even if they have normal homes underneath. This is for defense purposes. When Shina crafted this village she left it under the control of Amira, her sister." Sasori paused as he was about to speak, presumably because this was a lot to take in.

"How did Amira know of your arrival?"

"I have been planning to leave the Akatsuki since Ayame was first back in my arms. I reconnected with Amira via birds, and explained to her my plan. Then when they attacked and you found my plan, I had to set everything in motion faster than I wanted to." Sasori nodded as we both laid back on the couch. These couple years have been something to think about, especially now that I've found that Ayame isn't aging. She would be twenty-two now but she's still stuck as a child, and I know that nothing is going to change that but having her here will at least let her relax and live normally. She no longer has to deal with being an experiment or a ninja. She can finally relax.


End file.
